Review & Track Premiere: Uffe Lorenzen, Galmandsværk

Uffe-Lorenzen-Galmandsvaerk

[Click play above to stream ‘På Kanten Af Verden’ from Uffe Lorenzen’s Galmandsværk. Album is out Nov. 10 on Bad Afro Records.]

It would be difficult to overstate the level to which Uffe Lorenzen has contributed to the Danish and wider European heavy underground. Better known by the stage alias of Lorenzo Woodrose, Lorenzen was a member of pivotal anti-trend psych rockers On Trial before going on to found Baby Woodrose and, with that group, assume a figurehead role for Danish garage rock and heavy psychedelia that he maintains to this day — to wit, Baby Woodrose‘s 2016 full-length, Freedom (review here), was marvelous — driven by a relentless creativity that has led him to not only evolve that band but found and contribute to other projects like Dragontears and Spids Nøgenhat, keeping a steady flow of releases through Bad Afro Records and other labels and building a listenership and influence that at this point spans more than a generation.

Galmandsværk is not the first solo album Lorenzen has produced — there was the Pandemonica series of home recordings captured in the ’90s and released in the early 2000s, and Baby Woodrose‘s origins certainly stem from his compositional and performance method — but it is the first solo album he’s ever produced under his own name, and that would not seem to be a decision made lightly. That an artist with nearly 30 years of output under his belt would suddenly decide a single long-player represents his intent enough to put his real name on it when he’s never done so before? Not only that, but the write and sing songs for the first time in his native language?

That may or may not make Lorenzen‘s 10 inclusions on the 36-minute Galmandsværk — the title of which loosely translates to “act of madness” — the truest manifestation of who he is as an artist at this stage in his career, but it should definitely catch the eye of his followers, and taken in kind with the psych-folk basis and arrangements in many of these cuts, it seems to drive toward the notion of conversing with bedrock influences in Lorenzen‘s overall milieu. To be sure, cuts like “Ny By” and the earlier “Ridset Plade” bear the hallmark guitar fuzz and Mellotron spaciousness one might expect from Lorenzo Woodrose, but the shift in context toward a peaceful feel — not to mention the xylophone on “Ny By” — approaches garage rock vintage-ism from a new angle and makes for a deeply satisfying progression in style.

Backed by the not-at-all-language-dependent foundation of Lorenzen‘s songwriting — a standard that remains seemingly unfuckwithable, as shown here in the flute-laden dreamer “Flippertøs” and acoustic, backmasked-sample, keyboard-and-psych-wash-guitar sublime freakout of the penultimate “Høj Som Et Højhus” — Galmandsværk is at once quintessentially his own and a bold foray into new ground, the acoustic origins of many of the arrangements remaining prevalent while nonetheless fleshed out by electrics, keys, percussion and sundry other elements.

uffe lorenzen photo james daltrey

This is especially true on the longest cut and near-centerpiece, “På Kanten Af Verden,” which introduces sitar and percussive elements early into its 5:23 in order to set up a later-emerging jam that hits circa 3:45 joined by more weighted electric guitar tone and provides a singular, standout moment for the record as a whole, at once patient and scorching. In the serenity around it of songs like the aforementioned “Flippertøs” or “Dansker,” which opens, its vibrancy and resonance shimmer all the more, and with the bouncing jaw harp of the subsequent “Sang Om Merværdi,” it marks a turn in energy level that keeps Galmandsværk dynamic and all the more accomplished in its overarching sense of balance.

Fans of Baby Woodrose will no doubt recognize many of the elements at play here from that band, and if nothing else I think that speaks to the level at which that group has come to stand for Lorenzen as a player and composer — somehow making the transition to releasing under his own name seem increasingly natural — but between the language swap and the acoustic basis of songs like “Dansker” and the catchy “Rimets Tyranni” at the outset, Galmandsværk has no trouble establishing its own framework separate from that group, and its distinction does nothing to undercut the atmosphere of immersion and playfulness of style throughout, whether that’s the garage flourish of “Ridset Plade,” the wistful melodicism of “Min Skygge” or the final otherworldliness of “Blues for Havet,” which marks the return of the sitar that showed itself on “På Kanten Af Verden” — the end of side B perhaps calling back to the end of side A; a nod to structure of form one could only call suitable given Lorenzen‘s penchant for same in his craft.

Individual tracks move in any number of directions between garage rock, acid folk and classic psychedelia, but if nothing else, Galmandsværk — the bulk of which was reportedly written by Lorenzen on an island off the coast of Morocco over a 10-week stretch — is properly presented under the artist’s name. It is his own, and he absolutely owns it across what despite the level of engagement remains an utterly manageable LP span. While I’ll admit to feeling somewhat at a disadvantage compared to someone who might be able to examine the lyrics on their own level for being in Danish and talk about Lorenzen‘s representation of himself, of Copenhagen, of Denmark and so on, what comes through clearly in this material regardless of the words being said is a universal nature of sonic equilibrium — a poise that holds itself forward as a crucial aspect no matter where a single track might veer around it.

This can be seen as a function of the single origin of the songs themselves, and with Lorenzen thus at the core, the album is entirely his own. It’s been floated the solo-project will be an ongoing modus of exploration for Lorenzen from here on out, and while it’s difficult to imagine Baby Woodrose being put to rest given the vitality of Freedom and the band’s continued impact, if he does indeed choose to focus elsewhere even for some measure of time, this first act of madness brims with potential for future development while emphasizing the root of what has always made his work so special. It is a triumph, a worthy landmark, and hopefully another step in the ever-forward path of a storied career.

Uffe Lorenzen, “Flippertøs” official video

Uffe Lorenzen on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Bandcamp

Baby Woodrose website

Spids Nøgenhat on Thee Facebooks

Galmandsværk at Bad Afro Records Bandcamp

Bad Afro Records on Thee Facebooks

Bad Afro Records website

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